The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-10-05
TROPICAL WIRES.
THE DIFFICULTIES OF TELE-
GRAPHY IN MEXICO.
Monkeys, Ants, Woodpeckers and
Tigers Its Enemies--Formida
Antagonists of the Linemen-
Dangerous Occupation.

Mexico. We quote as follows:
Travellers on horseback in northern
Mexico traversing these vast, treeless and
melancholy plains stopat night for camp,
and, finding the telegraph poles accessl-
bic and admirably seasoned, cut them
down for fre-wood. And this is not all.
The humble ranchero, desiring stock OF
wire with which to fence in an inclosure,
goes with his peon servants and cuts
down a mile or two for use, leaving poles
oftentimes PROSTATE. Ihavemyself seen
poles wireless, and also long stretches of
wire without poles.
And the poles brought so far at so
great an expense have other enemies be-
side man. There is the insignificant
looking worm, the "Jengen, which i'll
sidiously honeycombs the poles till some
fine day they fall at the breath OF a
breeze, strewing fragments of wood over
the ground. This is formidable oPpo-
nent of telegraph communication in Mex
leo, and any bright American who can
show how to keep it out of the poles
may fairly demand reward from the
Mexican Government.
"Y los pajaros son enemigos tambien"
land the birds are also enemies). There
is Mexican woodpecker who sits up
toward the tops of the poles and pecks
and pecks and pecks for whole days. till
the top comes off, and wires and cross
arms 60, too A great rogue is this
Mexican woodpecker, the sworn enemy
of telegraph poles. The lincmen
(celadores) shoot him when they can, but
of what use2 One dies and forty comes
after the funeral!
And then the white ants, those in
dustrious, unseen hollowers-out of tim
ber. These tiny creatures will eat out
the inside of pole till it isa mere shell,
solid apparently, sturdy seemingly, but
absolutely as good for nothing rs an egg
shell. Up comes the wind, and the
poles blow away as if they were hornets
nests detached by cyclone. These
"hormigas blancas" dig out the inside of
of house timbers in some parts OF
the country. They have even been
known to so hollow out the legs of a
dining table that one day down it came
with all its crockery and the MONDAY
meal, too. The hormiga blanca is also
the sworn enemy of civilization and pro-
gress as represented by the telegraph
Down in the coast country they
get hard wood poles, not so easily
eaten out by ants or pecked to bits
by the naughty pa:;aros or perforated
with such facility by the Jengens.
But the Hot Land has its enemies or
Telegraphy also. How Mayne Reid, of
Balantyne, or Verne would have seized
on the facts here presented to the Herald
reader. Picture to yourselves, good
friends on the seaside plazzas or lounging
on mountain tops this summer day, a
country of impenetrable vegetation, with
gigantic palms and plantains, with jun
giles so dense that it is hard work with
stout and sharp machete to make path
through them, country of intense heat,
of innumerablc mosquitoes, aud ticks,
and malaria, and snakes. and vegetation
that grows up in a day to height that
interferes with the labor of man. Such
are some parts of the Mexican states of
Tabasco and Yucatan, and it is through
such regions that the telegraph which
connects the Mexican capital with i'm
portant points like San Juan, Bautista or
San Cristobal must penetrate. This
is country where the linemen 60
in couples, and armed with rides
to fight off the fierce "puma,"
or Mexican tiger Nigre), who assaults
man and is especially ravenous for tele.
graph constructors Linemen are often
attacked by these formidable beasts,
whose stuffed skins one sees in museums
in the City of Mexico. No, should not
want to encounter puma if were alone
and unarmed. 1t would be of no use to
take to a tree, for the puma would get
there, too, and he can shin up telegraph
pole with neatness and dispatch. The
Mexican linemen down in the hot coast
country shoot many puma while out at
tending to their lines.
A scarcely less formidable antagonist is
found in the monkey tribe who inhabit
the jungles and chapparal of Tabasco.
Literally the "woods are full of them"
Their favorite diversion, when not in
quest of food, is to betake themselves to
the telegraph line for gymnastic exer-
cises, and linemen assert that often 100
able bodied monkeys may be seen swing
ing on the wires, or festooned, monkey
fashion, by looping their tails. The con.
tinuous vibration of these forest gymnasts
starts the iron nails used on the cross
arms, and these often come down, bring
ing the wire with them.
And it is not safe matter to under
take to disperse these robust monkeys
who play the dickens with the telegraph
lines in the sparsely inhabited state of
Tabasco. Linemen have found that on
shooting monkey swinging on the wire
they have been pursued by whole rcgi-
mcnt of monkeys, who, with stones and
nuts, have pclted them severely. 'It is
no joke quo es broma)," said lineman
recently, 'to have tribe of monkeys
pursue one; they are very strong (muy
fucrtcsl, and can hit with stone or a
stick in a fashion to make man howl
with pain, thing the monkeys enjoy
hugely. They keep up an incessant chat
tering when pursuing US, and the noise
is enough to frightcn one out of his wits"
1t may we'll be imagined that when a
wire gets down in the hot country that it
is no small affair to pick it up again, for,
what with fighting tigers, monkeys and
mosquitoes, not to mention the cheerful
jgger or borer who works his way under
ones skin and sticks there, the business
is not at all monotonous one, and may
be safely recommended to youthful
readers who are dreaming of the Mayne
Reid sort of adventure in tropical lands.
An Afghan Execution.